On Thursday the city announced it is seeking approval to hoist the sign, which has sat disassembled at a Vaughan storage lock-up since 2008, on the roof of a city-owned building at 277 Victoria St., overlooking Yonge-Dundas Square.

Whether the kitsch 1960s hardware reappears will be debated at June 19’s meeting of the city’s planning and growth committee.

If approved the sign will live just a block from the record store where it originated. But only for up to 15 years, as the city has plans to sell that building.

It is the latest twist in a saga that originated in 2008 when the building that housed the record store was demolished to make way for a new Ryerson University building.

Peter J. Thompson / National PostThe city is looking to pull the Sam the Record Man sign out of storage and place it atop a building overlooking Yonge-Dudas square.

Ryerson bought the Yonge and Gould streets property where its new Student Learning Centre is under construction.

City council initially stated it wanted to grant the sign heritage status, but changed its mind when Ryerson signed an agreement promising to store, restore and reinstall the oversized signage on the new building or its library.

But Ryerson soon backed away from that agreement, saying it didn’t fit in with the buildings’ design.
A public outcry ensued, prompting city council to revisit other options.

The Sam the Record Man chain, owned by Sam Sniderman, once boasted 140 stores coast to coast.

The fate of the iconic Sam the Record Man sign hangs in the air, after city council voted to put off allowing Ryerson University to get out of an agreement to display the giant neon discs either at its new student centre or library building.

Under a new proposal, Ryerson would have a year to come up with an alternate location for the signs. On Wednesday, Mayor Rob Ford asked council to ensure the sign go at or near the original Yonge Street location, or nearby Gould Street.

Council chose instead to refer the matter back to staff for further consideration. It gave no deadline for when the issue should be resolved.

Afterwards, Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy denied the school had “reneged” on the deal, and reiterated that if the city wants, it will hang the sign on its library building, on Gould.

Asked why it did not design its new Student Learning Centre (on the site of the former Sam’s store) so that it could accommodate the sign, Mr. Levy said the first priority was to find “the best architect in the world … and then we would ask the question whether or not the sign could be accommodated.”

Kristyn Wong-Tam, the local councillor, suggested that the best place for the Sam sign may not be on Ryerson property at all, rather at Dundas Square, which often hosts concerts.

The Toronto and East York Community Council has recommended that Ryerson University be released from its contractual obligations concerning the Sam the Record Man sign. The Post’s Chris Selley and NOW’s Jonathan Goldsbie discuss the power dynamics at play.

Selley: I’m not one generally given to gnashing my teeth over Toronto’s fraught relationship with its own physical heritage. We have never been a particularly beautiful city, after all, and I think our tendency to wipe streetscapes clean and start over is actually a reflection of our practical nature, which in turn accounts in large part for our overall success. But the fracas over the Sam the Record Man sign is a weird case: It made little sense to me to strap that magnificently tacky thing on to Ryerson’s student centre, as opposed to a record store called Sam’s. And yet that’s what the university agreed to do. By allowing it to welsh on said agreement, and find another place to put it, Toronto and East York Community Council seems to have found the worst of all worlds: It knuckles under for laughable reasons (Ryerson claims, inter alia, a dearth of neon sign specialists), thereby inviting further poor behaviour; and it invites Ryerson to hang the sign in a place that makes no sense historical or otherwise. I’m on record that the best place for the Sam’s sign, and many other signs too, is a Toronto Historical Museum. In absence of said option, what’s the best one? And what, if anything, does this debate say about Toronto’s “heritage problem”?

Goldsbie: The City of Toronto is the most flexible business partner there is. Which is great for the purposes of the narrow private interests it deals with but terrible for the sake of civic dignity. The City has a longstanding problem of being unreasonably accommodating: it is unwilling to stand up for both the specific terms of various agreements and the general principle that a contract is a contract. In this case, the contract between Ryerson and the City already had a degree of latitude built into it: if Ryerson, after exhausting its “reasonable best efforts,” could not find an “appropriate” way to restore the sign to Yonge Street, it was to install it on the south face of its library building immediately east of there (on the north side of Gould at Victoria). The contract further makes explicit that it is Ryerson’s responsibility to refurbish, restore, and maintain the signs — all of the things the university has since said it does not much want to pay to do. There are countless examples of the City being taken advantage of in similar ways (several with the Astral Media street furniture contract alone), and I’m really freaking sick of it. If Ryerson doesn’t want to hang the thing on its new Student Learning Centre (which was clearly designed without any thought to incorporating the Sam’s sign), then it should have to hang it on the south side of its library. Goodness knows, it would only serve to improve that brutalist monstrosity.

Selley: I dispute the notion of “narrow private interests”: people work, live, learn and entertain themselves in the various “monstrosities” that replace grander old buildings — or, in the case of Sam’s, a fairly nondescript building in and of itself. What’s interesting is how friendliness to developers remains such a constant throughout various administrations. If someone like Kristyn Wong-Tam is OK with Ryerson’s as-yet-undetermined Plan B, then forcing Ryerson to honour its agreement on principle never really had a chance, did it? Again, it doesn’t bother me particularly — I think we should be trying to preserve our history in other ways. It’s just instructive how practical even Council’s more ideological members become when the rubber hits the road.

Goldsbie: The fact is, the City never relished the idea of taking Ryerson to court. Ryerson knew that and called the City’s bluff. And beyond the larger issue of deference to developers, the particular circumstances here involve the interests of Sheldon Levy: Ryerson’s president has spent the last decade reshaping that pocket of the city and establishing himself as arguably the most powerful person in ward 27. If you’re the councillor for that area, it’s simply not worth going to war with him over something so minor. If only our local visionaries saw Toronto as something to build upon rather than as something to conquer.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/16/ryerson-shouldnt-be-allowed-to-welsh-on-plan-to-display-sam-the-record-man-sign/feed/1stdRyerson University, which bought Sam the Record Man in 2007, signed an easement agreement with the city, committing to preserve the sign and put it back on its new Student Learning Centre, or on its library. But on Tuesday, with help from City of Toronto staff, Ryerson sought to wriggle out of the dealPeter Kuitenbrouwer: Ryerson looks for a way to wiggle out of Sam the Record man sign dealhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/10/peter-kuitenbrouwer-ryerson-looks-for-a-way-to-wiggle-out-of-sam-the-record-man-sign-deal/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/10/peter-kuitenbrouwer-ryerson-looks-for-a-way-to-wiggle-out-of-sam-the-record-man-sign-deal/#commentsWed, 11 Sep 2013 01:34:47 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=362149

Brett Gundlock / National PostRyerson University, which bought Sam the Record Man in 2007, signed an easement agreement with the city, committing to preserve the sign and put it back on its new Student Learning Centre, or on its library. But on Tuesday, with help from City of Toronto staff, Ryerson sought to wriggle out of the deal

Stephen Gallo was a student at St. Michael’s Choir School when he first walked into Sam the Record Man on Yonge Street.

“I met Sam when I was 12 or 13,” Mr. Gallo recalled, speaking Tuesday to members of Toronto and East York community council. “That’s where we used to go and get The Beatles after chanting all day.”

Mr. Gallo joined a collection of musicians and music lovers Tuesday who asked city councillors to protect Sam’s world-famous, gaudy sign, with two huge neon records, currently in storage.

Related

Ryerson University, which bought Sam the Record Man in 2007, signed an easement agreement with the city, committing to preserve the sign and put it back on its new Student Learning Centre, or on its library. But on Tuesday, with help from City of Toronto staff, Ryerson sought to wriggle out of the deal. A staff report said that the sign could leak mercury, that there are fewer professionals who know how to maintain such signs, cited the “structural risk” of mounting the sign, and questioned “the amount of energy needed to operate the signage.”

After a nearly three-hour debate, community council voted 7-4 to let Ryerson out of its commitment. The school will instead install a “commemorative insert” in the Yonge Street sidewalk in front of its student learning centre, to remember Sam’s.

But Ryerson is not yet off the hook on the sign. The motion passed at community council instructs staff to sign a new deal with Ryerson “to secure the restoration and installation of the neon signage in an alternate location satisfactory to the chief planner.”

Ryerson, a growing, thriving university, is a great asset in the heart of Toronto. But on Tuesday the school took an oddly blasé attitude toward the Sam’s sign. The office of Ryerson’s president, Sheldon Levy, is about 10 minutes’ walk from City Hall. Mr. Levy was in Toronto Tuesday, but didn’t show up. Instead Ryerson sent Julia Hanigsberg, the school’s vice-president of administration. She bristled under the questioning of Councillor Josh Matlow.

Brett Gundlock/National Post

“If it is going to cost Ryerson more, then so be it,” Mr. Matlow said. “Is that not Ryerson’s problem?”

Ms. Hanigsberg replied, “Without wanting to take issue with the question, which isn’t very productive, there are differences of opinion.”

It may be that Ryerson was not prepared for the emotion packed into the sign debate. Nicholas Jennings, a longtime music writer whose books on the history of Canadian rock include, Before the Gold Rush, read a letter from Sam Sniderman’s two sons, Jason and Bobby.

“Ryerson knows that any commemoration plan other than the re-installation of the signs requires our approval,” the letter reads. “It was only after the staff action report was released with an alternative plan that Ryerson even made an attempt to contact us. My brother and I support the re-installation of the signs as per the existing signed agreement and know that our father would have most certainly wanted that to happen.”

Mr. Jennings recalled bands that got their start on Yonge in the 1950s and 1960s, including Steppenwolf and The Band. However, his hyperbole may have veered slightly over the top when he said, “Sam’s neon sign was the most identifiable symbol of Toronto until the CN Tower was built.”

Jane Burnett, a jazz musician, rejected the sidewalk insert plan. “If Sam was here, he would have said, ‘Forget it, man.’ ”
Ryerson seeks to focus the debate on the technical difficulty of restoring and displaying the Sam’s sign. Supporters of the sign spoke of the memories that it evokes, of the glory days of rock ‘n’ roll.

But perhaps the most telling comment came from a Sam’s lover, Kurt Swinghammer. He noted that, if Ryerson succeeds in getting out of its easement agreement, “It sends out a message to Ryerson business students that it’s OK to renege on a deal.”

The sign debate now heads to city council for a final decision.

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/10/peter-kuitenbrouwer-ryerson-looks-for-a-way-to-wiggle-out-of-sam-the-record-man-sign-deal/feed/0stdRyerson University, which bought Sam the Record Man in 2007, signed an easement agreement with the city, committing to preserve the sign and put it back on its new Student Learning Centre, or on its library. But on Tuesday, with help from City of Toronto staff, Ryerson sought to wriggle out of the dealBrett Gundlock / National PostBrett Gundlock/National PostSam the Record Man sign belongs in a museum dedicated to Toronto's historyhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/06/sam-the-record-man-belongs-in-a-museum-dedicated-to-torontos-history/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/09/06/sam-the-record-man-belongs-in-a-museum-dedicated-to-torontos-history/#commentsFri, 06 Sep 2013 20:31:45 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=360647

Comment

On principle, Ryerson University should bolt the iconic Sam the Record Man sign to the front of its new student centre: It committed to do so, and its case for welshing on that promise is obnoxiously, insultingly weak. The university’s “concerns,” enumerated in a city planning staff report, include that there is “no suitable location” to put the sign on a building that was designed and constructed in full knowledge of the commitment; and, my personal favourite, that there has been “a decrease in the number of qualified neon signage professionals.”

Ryerson wants to put a commemorative plaque on the sidewalk instead. “Get stuffed” is a perfectly reasonable response. That said, putting a famous record store’s sign on to the building that replaced it never made much sense to me.

Sam’s is gone, just like A&A Records next door. The Morrissey, Matador, Colonial, Silver Rail and Bassel’s taverns are gone, along with Carmen’s and the Canary restaurants. Countless movie theatres are gone, including all the ones I grew up in, and I’m not even 40. Simpson’s and Eaton’s are gone. The Funland arcade, Lakeshore Boulevard’s infamous motor hotels, Pearson’s original Terminal One — all these landmarks, salubrious or not, gone without a trace. Sam’s was more famous than all of them, perhaps, but if the goal is respecting or honouring or remembering our history, then a neon sign accomplishes very little.

The proper place for the sign, I propose, is in a museum dedicated to Toronto’s fascinating history. We often think of ourselves as staid and unambitious, but our radically evolving neighbourhoods and streetscapes — which you can pore over on the endlessly diverting Lost Toronto blog — show that we have relentlessly, unapologetically and repeatedly reinvented ourselves in the name of commerce and better living. What has been “lost” — the physical spaces, the smells, the memories — needn’t be mourned, but should absolutely be remembered.

Recreating some of those streetscapes in some fashion, either virtually or physically, should be a key role of any Toronto history museum. Interiors, too: What if we had saved some of Sam the Record Man’s retail space — the chipped linoleum, the posters, the bins full of vinyl? Imagine physically visiting a diner in the 1930s, a tailor’s shop in the 1910s, a windowless pub from the Temperance Act era, or a fully functioning and authentically seedy Yonge Street video arcade (albeit smoke-free) circa 1987. Done properly, it would be spine-tingling.

Toronto may not have the most violent or spectacular history, though we have William Lyon Mackenzie’s march down Yonge, not one but two Great Fires, the Jubilee riots (Protestants vs. Catholics) in 1875 and the Christie Pits riot (Jews and their supporters vs. a xenophobic mob) in 1933. The SS Noronic burned in the harbour in 1949, at a cost of 118 souls, and Hurricane Hazel killed 81 in 1954.

Related

We have our mysteries and gruesome stories: The disappearance of theatre impresario Ambrose Small, which Arthur Conan Doyle might have solved had he agreed to take the case. Prolific and well-travelled serial murderer H.H. Holmes killed Alice and Nellie Pitezel in a rented house at 16 St. Vincent Street, which no longer exists. I had never heard of it until I read Erik Larson’s Devil in the White City, where it’s basically just a footnote.

The TTC brought much grief upon itself by advocating for its own museum at the height of the city’s budget crunch — “I visit the TTC museum every day,” was a common quip — but there should be a proper museum of Toronto’s old subway cars (however few are left), streetcars, buses and assorted memorabilia.

Where on earth could we put all this? Well, we just so happen to have 250,000 square feet sitting unused down on Unwin Avenue, just waiting for a plan: the hulking, disused Hearn Generating station, subject of all manner of plans — most notably a three-pad hockey facility — none of which seem close to fruition. “Cities all over the world would be over the moon to have a building like the Hearn,” photographer Dan Dubowitz told the Post’s Peter Kuitenbrouwer when demolition was a distinct possibility. He’s right. I like the hockey facility idea. But I like the idea of an ambitious, large-scale celebration of Toronto’s history even more. It’s probably big enough for both.

City heritage staff say they are satisfied with a plan by Ryerson University to commemorate Sam the Record Man, even if it will not include displaying the iconic neon signs that looked like spinning vinyls.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian WyldSam (The Record Man) Sniderman, the founder of the legendary Sam the Record Man music store.

Ryerson bought the Yonge and Gould streets property that housed Sam Sniderman’s shuttered record store in 2008 for its new Student Learning Centre. City council initially stated it wanted to designate the signs heritage, but withdrew that notice when the university signed an easement agreement promising to store, restore and reinstall the oversized signage on the Sam site or on its library building.

Ryerson has since backed away from rehanging the record sign. A new report from city staff gives a plan to instead commemorate the legendary store on the sidewalk in front of the new building the OK.

“While heritage staff are disappointed that Ryerson has been unable to find a feasible way to restore the original iconic signs to their historic context, we are now satisfied that the university has given serious consideration to the matter, obtained expert advice and has developed a commemorative strategy that will include a vibrant reinterpretation of the iconic frontage in its original location,” the report, to be debated at next month’s Toronto East York Community Council, stated. It requires city council approval.

Brett Gundlock/National PostConstruction workers begin preliminary work on removing the Sam the Record Man store front, on Yonge St. near Gould St. in Toronto, Sept. 24, 2008.

The commemorative plan proposes inserting an image of the storefront sign into the sidewalk, including two discs and “SAM” four times in the distinct lettering. There will be accompanying text on the sidewalk and a plaque on the wall. The school also wants to launch an online tribute to “Music on Yonge — celebrating 70 years of Sam’s” at a Ryerson-affiliated website.

“I think the plan that we’ve put forward is a well thought out, meaningful plan,” said Michael Forbes, a spokesman for Ryerson. “We recognize the significance of the Sam site to many people and we hope our plan can capture the meaning it had for them.” The signs remain in secure storage off site.

“We’re going to work with the city to find a new home for them,” Mr. Forbes added.

Related

The report states that Ryerson consulted with Gregory Signs & Engraving Ltd. to evaluate the feasibility of restoring and hanging up the signs on the new student centre, designed by Snohetta and Zeidler Partnership Architects, and “identified concerns.” They include the risk of mercury spilling if a fire ignites or if something were to break; a drop in the number of qualified neon sign professionals; an increase in maintenance costs; the structural risks that could occur when mounting the 380-quare-foot piece; and their energy consumption. Zeidler also concluded there was “no suitable location” on its new building for Sam’s sign, citing energy concerns, “conflict” with the design and “the distraction within the interior of the building caused by the signs’ flashing lights.” The architects also looked at mounting the sign on the Ryerson library, but deemed it too far from the original location and said it could damage that building’s facade.

Karl Murray, an account manager with Fine Line Signs Co., said there are a dwindling number of neon sign professionals, since the trend is towards LED because they consume less energy and cost less to service. Still, they do exist. He said his company took down, restored and refurbished an old neon sign on a Burlington restaurant last year. “It was expensive, yes. Probably more expensive than if we had built them a new sign,” he said.

Brett Gundlock/National PostFormer site of Sam the Record Man, Yonge St. and Gould St. Wednesday April 06, 2011 in Toronto.

Ryerson University is looking at a variety of options — including mounting a plaque — rather than rehanging the neon sign that once glowed over Sam the Record Man.

The property where the famed record store once stood was purchased in 2007 by Ryerson University, complete with a legal agreement that the neon sign would be featured as part of the school’s new student centre. But it was not visible in designs for the centre that were unveiled last year.

The sign, which would need restoring and remounting at an estimated cost of $250,000, has been sitting in pieces in a warehouse off campus since it was dismantled in 2008.

“We recognize that we did sign an agreement, and that we would reinstate the sign,” said Bruce Piercey, a spokesperson for Ryerson, adding that the school is looking for alternatives.

Related

While local councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam believes that Sam the Record Man needs to be recognized, she believes the city needs to move forward.

“The signs are very large,” she said of the 380 square foot signs. “It’s not the type of sign we would be approving on Yonge Street these days.”

The initial agreement was made at a time when people’s emotions on the issue were running high, and the store can still be recognized in other ways, she said, including a plaque, or an indoor tribute.

Those options don’t appeal to the sign’s creator.

“I wrote to [Sheldon Levy, the president of Ryerson], saying I had ideas of how to restore it at a reasonable price, but he never called me back,” said Sam Markle, whose company created the sign in 1971. “It’s really crappy to make a promise and not keep it, especially because [the sign] is such an icon.”

Options being studied include a plaque marking the spot where the record store once stood, or including a nod to the original sign as part of the entranceway into the new building.

Any outcome of negotiations between Ryerson and the city would then go to a city council vote. If council votes to reinstate the sign, Ryerson is prepared to do so.

“We understand the significance of the sign, and we want to work with the city on this,” said Mr. Piercey. “If that’s what the city wants us to do, then that’s what we’ll do.”

National Post

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/24/despite-legal-agreement-ryerson-axes-plans-to-rehang-neon-sam-the-record-man-sign/feed/1stdIn 2008, Sheldon Levy, president of Ryerson University, holds up the "THAT'S" from the "THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT" in the centre of one of the huge flashing neon discs of the iconic Sam The Record Man sign on Yonge St. The sign was taken down and moved into storage to make room for the new Ryerson Student Learning Centre. Ryerson said it would will refurbish and remount the sign on campus when construction of the new centre was complete but has now said they are looking for other ways to commemorate the store.Dave Bidini: Sam the Record Man’s stock fed music the way light nourishes the landhttp://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/24/dave-bidini-sam-the-record-mans-stock-fed-music-the-way-light-nourishes-the-land/
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/24/dave-bidini-sam-the-record-mans-stock-fed-music-the-way-light-nourishes-the-land/#commentsMon, 24 Sep 2012 22:12:05 +0000http://news.nationalpost.com/?p=215510

From a suburban distance, Toronto, the city, was represented by three small, funny, and interesting men: David Crombie, Ed Mirvish and Sam Sniderman.

Adrian Wyld / The Canadian Press Sam Sniderman

Something about their quick-to-laugh softness and civic geniality set the tone for a place that was more open than it knew. Through the ’60s and ’70s, Toronto was an unpretentious and unthreatening — some might have said uninteresting — landing pad for the world, and if David Crombie welcomed them on official city hall literature and Ed Mirvish offered free turkeys at Christmas, Sam Sniderman’s record store carried albums from Mogadishu, Zagreb and Trenchtown.

Its three floors of music harboured patrons of every stripe or denomination, the least being suburban kids like me, who, while terrified of the Pinball Spot or Cinema 2000 or Flashjacks’ Head Shop, felt safe among the walls of record racks and pillars decorated with photos of a smiling old bald man standing beside Wolfman Jack, The Guess Who, Oscar Peterson, Dionne Warwick or Alice Cooper.

At 17, very few old people are considered cool, but Sam Sniderman was beyond that. His manner and his way suggested, “What the Hell, I am who I am, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” an attitude that seemed more profound set against the photos’ feather-boa’ed rock band relief.

Related

It’s a lesson every kid should learn, and if strong-willed and determined musicians were obvious instructors in this regard, Sam’s impact was more sublime, if no less important. After all, the store had his name on it. In lights. They twirled and spun and consumed a city block.

I’ve written lately about the Canada-Russia Series of 1972, so it should be noted that not only was it 40 years ago that Paul Henderson scored with 34 seconds left in Moscow to give Canada a 4-3-1 victory, but this month marks the anniversary of Team Russia’s walk down Yonge Street to the great record store, where they were allowed to purchase one album each.

Sam and his son, Jason, met the players at the store’s one-step glass entrance, trading a Soviet banner for the vinyl.

Years later, after the Rheostatics played an in-store in what was once the classical-music section, Jason found the banner and draped it behind us. As it turned out — and in as much as it might be difficult for Jason to hear — the son wasn’t so different from father. Both stooped to accommodate anyone who passed through their doors.

Sam’s record stock fed Toronto music the way light nourishes the land. It shaped sounds and sensibilities because of its sea of product; albums glimmering like tiles in a fresco on walls rising to 20-foot ceilings.

I can barely remember the days when new, just-released 45s lay like pastries under glass while more vivid are my impressions of wanting to buy They Might be Giant’s Flood on vinyl, only to be told that it was also coming out on this new format: the CD.

Digital music was the undoing of Sam’s — to say nothing of an army of other stores in the area and elsewhere — but longstanding is the taste and feel and colour and smell of being in the store: moving in the lambent glow of the fading day having spent all afternoon pawing the shrink wrap of countless albums by countless bands; the PLAYING NOW record of the moment feeding my ears with music, music, music, from the world beat and international section to jazz to soundtracks to comedy to experimental to spoken word.

I only met Sam Sniderman once. It came during the latter days of the store’s existence, way up on the third floor where discontinued records were stacked floor to ceiling, having been pushed aside by the first floor’s CD collections.

I came away with one album — the old Forum singer Roger Doucet’s collection of national anthem recordings — but before leaving, I heard the sound of a bucket being dragged around and a mop splashing against the floor. Making my way to the stairs, I expected to find someone from the store’s cleaning staff, but it was Sam himself, his tie loosened, sleeves rolled up. He swished about the mop, and, after seeing me, he looked up and asked, “So, what’d ya get?”

I held up the album.

“Looks like a good one!” he said.

It is, and he was.

I’m going to play it now.

National Post

Dave Bidini is a Toronto musician and author

]]>http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/24/dave-bidini-sam-the-record-mans-stock-fed-music-the-way-light-nourishes-the-land/feed/2stdSam the Record Man's three floors of music harboured patrons of every stripe or denomination, the least being suburban kids like me, who, while terrified of the Pinball Spot or Cinema 2000 or Flashjacks’ Head Shop, felt safe among the walls of record racks and pillars decorated with photos of a smiling old bald man standing beside Wolfman Jack, The Guess Who, Oscar Peterson, Dionne Warwick or Alice Cooper.Sam Sniderman